


I Saved the Universe and All I Got Was A F-ing Lecture

by Codexfawkes



Category: Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Because Deadpool, Fix-It, Gen, Inhuman Darcy Lewis, Minor Angst, Thanos Dies (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25493497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Codexfawkes/pseuds/Codexfawkes
Summary: “I never believed in things like seeing the future or superpowers from seafood, but for the past year and a half, I’ve watched Darcy defy everything I thought I knew. Thanos is already incredibly powerful, if he gets all six stones, he’s going to murder half the people in the universe with a single snap of his fingers. Billions upon billions of people gone in an instant.”
Relationships: Jane Foster/Thor (past), Wade Wilson/Vanessa Carlysle (mentioned)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 116





	I Saved the Universe and All I Got Was A F-ing Lecture

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing except the plot and the configuration of words used.

**Wakanda**   
**Forest outside the capital**

Steve collapsed to the ground next to the pile of burnt leaves that had seconds before been his best friend. His lungs heaved and burned as he gasped for breath in a way he hadn’t since before the serum. All around him pained screams of denial rent the air of Wakanda as people turned to dust.

**One Day Before the Snap**   
**London, England**   
**Dr. Jane Foster’s Lab**   
**Oxford University**

Darcy sucked in a loud, pained breath as her vision faded, the TV screen still showing footage of the large hoop-shaped space ships hovering over various cities around the world.

“Jane! Fuck, we gotta move, now!” Darcy exclaimed scrambling for a pen and paper.

“What did you see?” Jane asked anxiously, biting her lip.

“Remember when we picked up that transmission about Thanos destroyer of worlds?” Darcy asked as she scribbled.

“Yeah, is he …” Jane trailed off unable to finish the sentence.

“Those are his scouting ships, they’re looking for some of those infinity stone things Thor went searching for. Once he has all of them it’s not just Earth, Jane he’s gonna kill half the universe. We gotta stop him,” Darcy told her.

“We need to call the Avengers,” Jane started to argue.

“There isn’t time! I’ve just seen what happens when they’re in charge, and they lose! They aren’t gonna listen to me. The only ones who would are Clint who they aren’t calling for help and Tony and he’s getting on a space ship and leaving the planet,” Darcy insisted.

“He wouldn’t do that, why would he do that?” Jane argued. As soon as the last word left her mouth, they heard an announcer from the BBC speaking.

“The ship is leaving New York and headed back toward the lower atmosphere, Iron Man, who entered the ship several minutes ago, has not emerged,” he said.

“You were saying?” Darcy asked pointedly. Jane let out a shuddering breath and nodded.

“What do you need me to do?” she asked.

“Get three sets of portal sticks set up, they’re final destination being here in the lab, originating locations are these places,” Darcy told her thrusting the paper she’d been hurriedly writing on.

“What are you going to do?” she asked reading the information.

“I’m taking the two-person transporter and going to get some backup. Once you have that set, I need you to find me five active volcanoes and get the coordinates ready for me,” Darcy explained.

“Volcanoes?! What the fuck? And who are you going to get?” Jane asked as Darcy strapped the portal device that looked like a smartwatch to her wrist.

“The one person I know who will be able to help me pull this off,” Darcy said before hitting the transport button.

**Barton Farm**   
**Waverly, Iowa**

Clint was out in one of the fields watching as Lila lined up her shot, before losing the arrow and hitting the target dead center. He grinned at his baby girl, high-fiving her for hitting another arrow dead center. His mini-Hawkeye was shaping up to be one hell of an archer, hell she might be better than him one day, and he couldn’t be happier. Lila was lining up another shot when suddenly Darcy appeared off to the left of the target, startling them both. It was the first shot Lila had missed all day.

“Darce? What the hell?” he called out moving forward, motioning for Lila to stay back.

“There isn’t time to explain, but you know what I can do, what I see. There’s something really bad coming, mass destruction bad, the remaining Avengers … Clint they lose. I saw it all. They lose and you … you’re the last Barton standing,” she tells him quietly. “Your entire family just … gone. Help me stop it,” she begged.

“How long?” he bit out, fists clenching.

“About eighteen hours,” she answered.

“Nat?” he asked.

“Lives, but she not gonna call until it’s too late. She doesn’t want to get you in more trouble,” Darcy explained gesturing at the ankle monitor.

“Trouble?!” he burst out. “This is bigger than fucking Ross,” he snapped.

“She doesn’t know that yet. Clint, they aren’t gonna listen to me, you know that. But we can stop it, I have a plan,” Darcy told him urgently.

“Let me get my gear,” he replied nodding at her. In five minutes, Clint was geared up with everything he might need, and the bracelet was transferred to Laura. “I’ll be back,” he promised kissing her.

“You better be,” she answered with worry on her face but a brave smile. He nodded and went down the porch steps to stand next to Darcy. Darcy grabbed his hand, nodded at Laura, and then they were gone.

“Is Aunt Darcy going to save the world?” Lila asked.

“You know what, I think she is,” Laura replied before hustling the kids into the house.

**Hank Pym’s Lab**   
**Los Angeles, California**

Clint and Darcy appeared in front of what appeared to be a child’s toy of a building.

“Seriously?” Clint asked staring at the tiny building.

“Yup, it’s a thing,” she confirmed.

“Awesome,” he sighed before walking over to the building. “Yo, tic-tac, wanna be an Avenger?” he called out. The building began to shake and Clint stepped back by Darcy just in time for the building to return to full size and the door to open revealing as grinning Scott.

“Clint! Hey, man, how're things?” he asked brightly.

“How did you find us, who is this woman, and what do you want?” Hank demanded pushing past Scott.

“You wanna save the universe when Tony Stark couldn’t?” Darcy asked. Hank stared at her for a long moment before a slow smile spread across his face.

“I think you better come in,” he invited.

**Luke’s Bar**   
**Hell’s Kitchen**   
**New York, New York**

Clint led Darcy into the bar, the late afternoon sunshine giving way to the dimly lit interior. He walked up to the bar where an attractive, muscular man was leaning against it.

“Luke, I need your help man,” he said without preamble.

“Clint, motherfucking, Barton. It’s been forever,” Luke greeted with a smile.

“Yeah, I wish it were a social call, but the fucking universe is about to end and we’ve gotta stop it. You in?” Clint asked seriously. Luke eyed him shrewdly, his gaze falling to Darcy for a long moment before looking back at his old friend.

“I’m in, lemme make a call, I’ve got some friends that could help,” he agreed pulling out his phone.

**Sister Margaret's Home for Wayward Girls**   
**New York, New York**

Darcy entered the bar and looked around for a moment before spotting the familiar red and black mask. Making her way over, she saw the moment Wade noticed her.

“No fucking way, if it isn’t little Darcy with her new fucking powers. She never writes, she never calls,” he said before looking to the right. “I blame you, you’re typing this damn thing.”

[Shut it, Wade, you’re on a clock]

Darcy chuckled at his antics and sat across from him.

“It’s good to see you Wade, but this isn’t a social call,” she told him.

“Yeah, yeah, I read the summary. Big purple bad is coming and you need some hot Deadpool action to get that rating up, I gotcha. Now, I’ve only got one question. Where’s my Hawk/Pool tag?”

[Not happening]

“Awww, I never get sweet Hawkeye lovin’.”

**Jane’s Lab**

Jane paced waiting for Darcy’s call to activate the portals. Finally, her phone went off and she found a simple text.

*Now*

Jane hurried to the portal sticks and in quick succession activated the three portals. They flared to life and out of the first stepped Scott, Hank, Jan, and Hope. From the second came Luke, Jessica, Matt, and Danny. From the third stepped Wade, Negasonic, and Colossus.

“Where’s Darcy?” Jane demanded looking at them.

“She and Barton went to brief Fury, you’re supposed to bring all of us, including you doc and your equipment, to these coordinates,” Luke said passing over a piece of paper.

“So damn pushy,” Jane muttered with a fond smile.

“Me?” Luke asked with a smirk.

“Darcy,” Jane clarified. “Alright, it’s gonna take me a few minutes to recalibrate everything, hang tight everybody. Wade, Don’t. Touch. Anything.”

“I will handle him Dr. Foster, have no fears about that,” Colossus promised.

“No offense, but I’ve seen you ‘handle’ him before and it usually ends with him flipping you off and doing whatever he wants anyway,” Jane observed as she started plugging in the new coordinates.

“Iron dick here has never ‘handled me’ mores the shame, but you can do whatever you want to me Janey,” Wade teased leaning toward her only to be shoved backward by Negasonic.

“Tell us doc, is this end of the universe thing legit? Because Luke here is taking Barton’s word and he’s listening to this Darcy chick,” Jessica questioned skeptically. Jane stopped what she was doing and turned to the other woman.

“I never believed in things like seeing the future or superpowers from seafood, but for the past year and a half, I’ve watched Darcy defy everything I thought I knew. Thanos is already incredibly powerful, if he gets all six stones, he’s going to murder half the people in the universe with a single snap of his fingers. Billions upon billions of people gone in an instant. Planes falling out of the sky, cars crashing, operations halted as the surgeon turns to dust, and that’s just on Earth. We have a small window to stop it, and if we listen to the person with the inside knowledge, we can win this. But if you aren’t up for it, I’ll send you home right now,” Jane told her seriously. Silence reigned for a long moment before Jessica gave a faux-casual shrug.

“Well, I’m already here. Might as well help save half the universe,” she agreed,

“Nice save,” Negasonic snarked, leaning against a wall.

“Bite me,” Jessica shot back.

“Nah, you’re too old for me,” Negasonic quipped with a smirk. Wade let out a startled laugh and grinned at her from behind his mask.

“That’s my girl!” he crowed proudly, causing Negasonic to roll her eyes and flip him off.

“Alright, I’m going to need some help moving some of this stuff. Um, you, you look nice and strong,” she said looking Luke over, “Think you can carry that?” she asked pointing to a large plastic case that held the bulk of her portal equipment.

“Not a problem,” he agreed nodding.

“Awesome, I need two people to carry the rest of these sticks that aren’t going to be in use yet. Not you Wade,” Jane said frowning at his raised hand.

“We’ve got them,” Hope said tugging Scott forward.

“Yeah, it’s cool Doc, we science too,” Scott assured her with a wide-open grin. Jane nodded and input the last few commands before a shimmering portal appeared.

“Alright everybody, in you go,” she said waving her arm to the portal of rainbow light. Luke went through first, Scott and Hope following close behind. The others quickly followed suit, until it was only Jane left to follow with the control pad. And then they were gone, leaving an empty lab behind.

**SHIELD Helicarrier**

Jane stepped out of the portal onto the deck of the helicarrier. Darcy was standing there with Barton and conferring with Fury and Hill before she hurried over and hugged Jane.

“Thanks, Janie, come on let’s get inside,” she called out over the loud sound of the engines. Jane nodded and soon their group was being led into a large conference room. “Before we get started, Jane I need you to open another portal, we’ve got a bit more back upcoming,” Darcy told her with a grin. Darcy helped Hope set up two of the sticks she’d carried while Jane entered coordinates. A few minutes later the portal opened and seconds after a familiar face appeared followed by several other people.

“You!” Jane cried out a feeling of betrayal slicing through her. “Thor said you died, he’s been carrying around so much guilt because he thought Loki killed you,” Jane accused angrily.

“Yell at Coulson later Jane, we need their help,” Darcy interrupted. “It was a dick thing to do tho,” she added to Phil, before turning a judgmental glare at Fury who just smirked back at her. “Alright, we don’t have time for introductions or anything, so everybody meet everybody. Now, here’s what’s going to happen. Right now, this boat is headed for Wakanda, which is where Thanos is going to attack,” Darcy began.

“Why Wakanda? It’s a bunch of goats and trees,” Matt pointed out.

“Because it’s not, it’s really not,” Hank answered with a smile.

“Look, as much as I would love to talk about everything awesome about Wakanda and King T’Challa because damn he’s pretty, we really don’t have time for this. Imminent destruction remember?” Darcy interjected looking around the room. “As I was saying, Thanos’ army is going to attack in Wakanda, here,” Darcy told the gathered fighters, a wall flickering to life showing a map of Wakanda. “To answer the why tho, it’s largely because that’s where the remains of the Avengers, sans my buddy Clint here and Tony who’s on another planet, are gathering to make their stand. They have something Thanos wants and he cannot under any circumstances get it. Most of you are going to be portaled to various places throughout the battlefield as back up to repel his forces. Coulson, you’re going to lead Daisy, Mack, Elena, and May here,” Darcy said pointing to a spot on the map. “Daisy, your powers are going to be needed to stop the giant death wheels that are going to be taking out large swaths of land and people,” Darcy told her.

“Death wheels?” she asked, glancing at Coulson in concern.

“They’re giant circular machines with huge blades that can cut right through any defensive line. You’re the only one that can stop them,” Darcy explained. Daisy swallowed hard and nodded, her back straightening.

“You can count on me,” Daisy replied.

“On us,” Coulson added, his hand going to Daisy’s back reassuringly. Darcy watched as Daisy leaned into him, immediately relaxing a bit.

“Our Hell’s Kitchen crew are going to be here,” Darcy continued, forced to leave that interaction for later, pointing at another spot on the map. “Thanos is going to order a contingent to break away and head for the royal palace. The people there will be relatively defenseless. You get to head off the sneak attack, and stop the flanking move that will make things even worse,” she told them getting nods in return.

“We can do that,” Danny agreed for them all.

“The insect group, you guys are going to be brought to the thick of it. Once there, target any alien tech you can and put it out of commission,” Darcy ordered.

“Not a problem,” Hope agreed.

“Negasonic, Colossus, you two are going to be dropped here. The King’s guard the dora miljae, is going to need the back up to prevent another flanking move from this side. You two are to back them up for as long as they needed it to prevent that line from breaking,” Darcy explained.

“We will not let you down Darcy,” Viktor promised.

“What about me?” Deadpool whined.

“Wade, you have the most important job of all, you’re going to save Captain America’s life,” Darcy told him with a grin, getting an excited gasp in response.

“You’re my favorite!” he breathed happily rushing forward to hug her.

“Wait, he’s going to save Cap’s life? Don’t you think someone more … reliable should do that?” Jessica challenged.

“Nope, it’s gotta be Wade. Those swords of his are going to chop off Thanos’ hand, separating him from the five infinity stones he’ll have by then. Wade is the only one who can do it in one stroke while Rogers has Thanos occupied. He won’t fuck up, he knows what’s at stake,” Darcy insisted.

“I get this wrong, Vanessa and our baby die,” Wade said seriously.

“Baby?” Colossus asked in surprise.

“She just found out,” Wade answered sounding proud, happy, and worried. “I won’t let them down, I can’t,” he promised.

“While Rogers has Thanos busy trying to kill him, we’re gonna drop you here, about fifteen feet away. You need to run and draw your swords, taking off the hand cleanly in one strike without hitting Cap. Then grab that gauntlet off the ground and run here, where Jane will open a second portal. You chuck that sucker through the portal and keep heading forward to help Wanda and Vision,” Darcy ordered.

“What about me?” Clint asked.

“Clint, I need you to do the hardest job of all. I need you to go to Wakanda before the battle starts. Steve and Thanos are going to fight in the woods. I need you to set up in a blind ready to take out Thanos once Wade and the gauntlet are clear. But the thing is, you can’t do anything until then. You can’t help Steve, or Wanda, or anyone else. It is imperative that Thanos has no idea you’re waiting to finish him off. Once the gauntlet is through the portal, you’re going to put an exploding arrow into the bastard’s eye and blow his fucking head off,” Darcy related. Clint took a deep breath, hating the thought of doing nothing when his friends were in danger, but also knowing Darcy was right.

“I can do that,” he agreed.

“Fury, once Wade has tossed the gauntlet through, that’s when you decloak and let the weapons you have on this thing loose on Thanos’ ships and the back of his army. We’re going to make sure that no one has a way to retreat. We end this, for good,” Darcy insisted.

“Agreed, and I sent a message to a friend, if she can get here in time, well, she’ll be one hell of an ally,” Fury told her with a smirk.

“Good, we could use some more of those,” Darcy nodded. “We’ve got about two hours for you all to relax a bit, get some food, whatever you want. When it’s time, Maria here will bring you all on deck. Scott, you and your friends can help get the portal sticks in position so we can move everyone except Wade and Clint out at once. Clint, we need to get you into position now, before any of his ships hit atmo,” Darcy explained. Clint nodded and grabbed his gear, following her out of the room, Jane, Scott, Hope, Jan, and Hank following behind them.

“Phil, I’m sure you remember where everything is, you’re in charge of hospitality,” Fury ordered before sweeping out of the room with Hill.

While Jane and the others went on deck to set up the sticks and send Clint to Wakanda, Darcy went to the labs with Fury.

“You’re sure this thing will work?” she asked inspecting the small crane looking device.

“It worked to examine the mind stone before we put it back in the scepter. It should work just fine on the others. What exactly do you plan to do with these stones once you have them, Lewis?” Fury asked curiously.

“I’m going to get the time stone back to Dr. Strange so he can use it to undo some of the damage Thanos is causing as we speak. The gauntlet and the rest of the stones, well, let’s say I’m going to channel my inner hobbit,” Darcy told him as she started entering coordinates of the volcanoes Jane had found her into the device still on her wrist.

“If we could just study …” Fury started only to be cut off.

“No, not happening. Death and destruction follow these stones wherever they go. And considering that your judgment is what led to a flerken clawing your eye out, I think we’ll be listening to mine instead,” she declared. Fury narrowed his eye at her, frowning at her before sighing heavily and leaving her to it.

Darcy made her way back up on deck just as Jane and the others got all the various pairs of sticks set up for the defense groups. Clint was standing by ready to make the journey to Wakanda and take his place for the coming battle. Darcy moved to his side and gave him a quick hug.

“Stay alive or I’ll kill you,” Darcy threatened. Clint chuckled and hugged her close.

“See you soon kid,” he said bussing a kiss over the top of her head before stepping back. Giving her a two-fingered salute, and a reassuring smirk, Clint jogged through the portal and out of sight. After he walked through, Darcy headed back to the small lab Fury was letting her use as her personal space. She sat heavily on the stool by the small crane set up, ready to pull the stones from the gauntlet. Pulling up the info Jane found her on active volcano’s she started looking for places she could portal to. The next hour and a half passed quickly and soon everyone was on deck ready to go through the portals to Wakanda.

“Alright folks, Jane is going to open all of the portals at once which is your signal to move. Be careful and kick ass,” Darcy said. Moments later the portals opened and people started to move. Finally, everyone had gone through except Wade, it was almost time.

**Wakanda**

“Cap, you seeing this?” Sam asked over the comms.

“What?” Steve said as he moved toward the giant purple bastard attacking Vision.

“We’ve got portals opening all over the battlefield, looks like friendlies,” Sam reported.

“They’re fighting Thanos’ forces at least,” Nat reported. “Shit, and we’ve got enhanced among them,” she let him know.

“Good,” Steve told them as he threw himself in front of Thanos, catching his hand.

Darcy nodded at Jane and she opened the second to last portal.

“You’re on Wade, don’t fuck up. You can join the fight when you’re done,” Darcy told him.

“Awesome, alright here we go, maximum effort,” Wade said before sprinting forward, right through the waiting portal. He burst out the other side in the forest of Wakanda. Directly ahead of him was exactly what Darcy had described. Thanos and Cap were in a standoff, Cap holding on to the gauntlet, doing his level best to stop the behemoth. Wade resisted the urge to give a war cry, charging forward silently, his swords in his hands, bringing them down as one, smoothly severing the giant purple hand. Thanos howled in pain, staggering backward as Wade scooped up the gauntlet with the hand inside and booked it toward the new portal that had opened directly ahead of him. “You’re welcome Cap, and tell Barton to call me more often!” he called out looking over his shoulder before tossing the gauntlet through the portal and continuing around it, barreling toward the battle. Steve took one step after him then a growl from Thanos caught his attention. Steve spun around to face the furious, bleeding alien, only to be shocked again by a blur passing his head only to resolve into an arrow burrowing into Thanos’ right eye.

“Steve! Fall back!” Clint’s voice called out. Steve dove back, hitting the deck just in time for the arrow to explode.

Darcy ran toward the gauntlet and scooped it up, dumping the severed hand out of it, before sprinting for the lab. Jane made disgusted exclamations behind her, but Darcy ignored them. She darted into the lab, and carefully placed the glove on the desk before starting to pull the stones from their places. Each one was placed into a small insulated box. The time stone was placed in its box last and was then placed in one of Jane’s locking equipment cases. Then a sixth case was closed with a small piece of quartz crystal, and Darcy put the lot in her left pocket, except the quartz, which was in her right. Hefting the glove and case, she hurried back onto the deck.

“Alright Jane, you can portal everything to Shuri’s lab, the equipment I was using is all packed up,” Darcy explained.

“Is she expecting me?” Jane asked setting the one set of sticks she hadn’t packed away.

“I sent a message, but I’m not sure if she got it. If guards show up just surrender, I’ll be there soon,” Darcy assured her. Jane frowned but nodded, activating the portal as Darcy placed the case on the cart with the other equipment. Jane grabbed the handle of the flatbed and went through the portal. “Alright, that’s everything, thanks Nick,” Darcy said giving him a quick one-armed hug before letting go and activating the portal device on her wrist.

Back in Wakanda, the battle was winding down. With Thanos dead, the Avengers, Wakandans, SHIELD agents, and others were beating back his army as the helicarrier fired on the ships and back line. Steve fought his way through the alien army Clint at his side as the archer explained what had been happening out in the world.

“What is she going to do with the stones and glove?” Steve demanded to know.

“She’s got it taken care of,” Clint reported.

“Not exactly reassuring, those things have immense power, no one should have them,” Steve insisted.

“Relax Cap, she’s got this, plus, do you really want me giving locations while in the middle of Thanos’ minions?” Clint challenged before heading off to find higher ground.

By the time the battle was over and the ships destroyed, Steve and T’Challa led the Avengers and the helpers that had come in via portal, along with Shuri, M’Baku, Nakia, and Okyoe into the throne room where Darcy and Jane were waiting.

“Where are the stones?” Steve demanded to know marching toward them with a concerned frown.

“Safe,” Darcy answered before turning toward Thor. “Yo Odinson got bling for ya,” she said tossing a small metal box to him, which he caught automatically raising a questioning eyebrow at her. “Yeah, long story short Stark, a wizard named Strange, and a kid called Spiderman are on Titan with your Guardian buddies. You need to rainbow bridge yourself and that stone to Strange so he can bring your ship full of refugees and the green hottie back, among other things. Bring Rocket and Groot with you so they can fix Nebula’s ship. Don’t ask, just go. Oh, wait two things first,” Darcy said walking past Steve to step into Thor’s space. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him fiercely. “I’m so sorry about your dad and Asgard,” she whispered. Thor wrapped his arms around her tightly, a slight shudder of emotion running through him. After a long moment, Thor pulled away and nodded at her that he was okay. Then she turned to Rocket and Groot, kneeling in front of them. “You dudes are awesome, just had to say. Thanks for taking care of the big guy for us,” Darcy said, nodding back toward Jane to include her in the sentiment. “He can be a pain but we love him anyway,” Darcy continued shooting a warm smirk at Thor who chuckled.

“I am Groot,” Groot replied smiling at her, his hand reaching out to touch her hair shyly.

“Awww, thanks dude, you’re tots adorbs yourself,” she grinned leaning forward to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Finally, someone on Terra with a brain. No wonder you’re the one that orchestrated all this, guess you Avengers aren’t hopeless after all,” Rocket told her.

“I’m not, an Avenger that is, just a friend to a couple of them,” Darcy corrected.

“And we’re back to dumbass Terrans again. Alright, gimmie my kiss of thanks and we’ll head out with blondie here,” Rocket demanded, his tone implying he was trying to sound put out about the whole thing. Darcy chuckled but leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek too.

“Thanks for everything my dudes,” Darcy said before climbing to her feet.

“I don’t know how you did all of this my friend, but I expect to hear the tale when I return,” Thor told her with a bemused smile.

“Square deal, we’ll get a boatload of Chinese and I’ll tell you the whole thing,” Darcy agreed giving him another hug. She stepped back and Thor raised his new axe ready to portal himself, Rocket, and Groot to Titan when Steve stepped forward frowning.

“Wait a damn minute, before you head anywhere with one of those stones, we need a fucking explanation here,” Nat, Clint, and Bruce gave out fake gasps collectively calling out behind him:

“Language!”  
Steve ignored them and barreled on.

“You can’t just go off giving those things to random people,” Steve pointed out exasperated.

“Look, I get that you’re out of the loop and you don’t like it, but Strange is the rightful owner of that stone. There’s a lot of really fucked up damage that Thanos did very recently to get the stones. Strange needs to undo it as soon as possible or there’s gonna be hella consequences. Thor, go, now,” Darcy ordered turning away from Steve. Thor didn’t wait, just opened the Bifrost, and whisked away toward Titan with the two Guardians by his side.

“You can’t just go make unilateral decisions like that!” Steve yelled frustrated. “You had no right to orchestrate an entirely different strategy and make all of these decisions on your own. These stones are dangerous. If Thanos got whatever stone that was from this Strange guy, maybe he shouldn’t have it back, did you ever think of that? You shouldn’t have gone behind everyone’s backs. You should have come to us and told us what you saw instead of running off half-cocked …” Steve ranted before Darcy interrupted him.

“And saving your collective asses. Not to mention the asses of half the fucking universe there Steve, including your buddy Bucky with the good hair,” Darcy retorted sharply. Steve opened his mouth to speak but Darcy cut him off. “I saw your plan, and how epically badly it failed. Also, it’s fucking rich for a dude who started a war with half his friends and got himself declared a fugitive all over the right to not have to consult a fucking committee when time was of the essence, to tell me I should have stopped to consult anybody. Not to mention that if I had bothered to come to you first you wouldn’t have listened! I’m just the intern to you. I didn’t want a lot of people knowing about me being an Inhuman, so you didn’t know. I kept it a secret, and it would have wasted way too much time to convince you to actually believe me and then act on what I was saying, time we didn’t have. So yeah, I did things without you. I formed a plan and it fucking worked. Half the universe is still alive because these amazing people stepped up to the plate and got shit done. I get that if it’s not you in charge you don’t trust it, but that’s squarely your problem Rogers,” she spat poking him in the chest. “Thanos is dead, the stones are safe, and soon Tony and the others will be back home where they belong. You can be pissed at me for my methods all you want, but they fucking worked and I’m not going to apologize for it,” Darcy stated definitively. Silence reigned in the large room for a long moment before a deep laugh filled the air.

“I like this one, she can stay,” M’baku declared grinning. M’baku’s laughter and declaration broke the tension in the room, causing everyone to chuckle along with him. T’Challa stepped forward with a genuine smile and addressed Darcy.

“I cannot argue with your methods or their results. You have saved many lives by acting to end the battle and secure the stones. You and Dr. Foster are welcome in Wakanda for however long you wish to stay,” he invited. Shuri hurried forward grabbing Jane by the arm, talking a mile a minute about Jane’s research and how she’d been trying to get her brother to extend an invitation since they’d begun collaborating via Skype six months prior. M’baku took the opportunity of the princess distracting Steve’s attention to lead Darcy toward the door, chatting with her about how she’d managed to do everything. Steve opened his mouth to object her leaving when Bucky stepped to his side.

“Let her go, Steve, she did the right thing,” he said softly.

“How can you say that?” Steve asked incredulously.

“Because it’s what the little guy from Brooklyn would have done,” Bucky told him with a significant look before heading toward Natasha. Steve stood there; the wind knocked out of his sails by Bucky’s words. He sighed softly realizing his friend was right. He was so used to calling the shots, being in control, being the Captain that he forgot that other people could be trusted to do the right thing. Darcy Lewis had, after all, been on the Insight list for a reason. Not everyone was Ross, or politicians out for themselves; over the past year, he’d forgotten that. Damn, he owed her an apology. Even if he was still concerned about where the stones were hidden.

It wasn’t until that night that he got another chance to speak to Darcy. A large celebratory meal had swiftly taken place where her attention was monopolized by pretty much everyone else, and then Jane needed her help to send the group they’d put together home. Dr. Foster had decided to take Shuri up on her offer to use the University of Wakanda’s observatory to further her research. That meant she and Darcy would be staying in Wakanda for a while. After everything had settled down, and those remaining in Wakanda had gone their separate ways, Steve sought Darcy out. He found her out on one of the balconies, overlooking the royal gardens.

“It really is beautiful here,” he commented stepping to her side and leaning against the railing.

“It’s gorgeous,” Darcy agreed.

“Look, Darcy, I’m sorry about this afternoon. I know you’re a good person, and what you did, what you managed to do? It…it was amazing. I can’t even imagine what it took to get everything together in time. To get Fury to help…it's not exactly easy to get him to follow someone else’s lead,” Steve admitted with a rueful chuckle. “What I’m trying to say is, I fucked up. I shouldn’t have gone after you like that, and I’m sorry,” Steve apologized.

“I accept your apology,” Darcy responded. They lapsed into silence for a few minutes while Steve gathered the courage to ask about the stones again. “I tossed them in separate volcanoes. The four stones and the gauntlet. Good luck anyone getting them out again,” she told him without prompting. Steve turned to her in surprise, that was the last thing he was expecting to hear.

“You could have done anything with them, why that?” he wanted to know.

“Because they’re too powerful, and too big a temptation. Look at Howard Stark, he spent years experimenting on the Tesseract and it turned him into a selfish, abusive asshole who treated his wife and kid like crap. Not to mention, Thor told me how the mind stone affected you all before the Battle of Manhattan. He told me how just being in the room with it had you all at each other’s throats. How Bruce grabbed the scepter without even realizing he had. That was exposure to one stone. Think about how a person would be affected by four. No, the best thing to do was to Mount Doom it, and make them inaccessible to anyone. Especially Fury who tried to convince me to hand them over,” she explained.

“I can’t argue with your logic, and I’m glad you made that call. They’re better off where no one can get them,” Steve agreed. Darcy grinned and patted Steve on the shoulder.

“Good talk Cap, I’m off to bed. I don’t know about you, but I’m fucking exhausted,” she said yawning. Steve grinned and nodded.

“We both had one hell of a day, that’s for sure. Have a good night Darcy,” Steve told her.

“You too Steve,” she echoed before heading inside. Steve turned back to the extraordinary view with a smile. She was one hell of a dame.

**Helicarrier**

Fury sat in his private quarters on the helicarrier and slid the small case he’d lifted off Lewis when she’d hugged him from his pocket. He knew trying to forcibly take all the stones from her wouldn’t end well. He didn’t need Foster portaling his ass to another planet. Still, one stone was better than none. Nick took a deep breath before flicking the case open. Seconds later he let out a bark of laughter as he stared down at a piece of useless quartz and read the message Darcy had left behind.

*Psychic*


End file.
